In life, there is a time to stay where you are and a time to move forward as the Lord guides you by His Holy Spirit. It is easy to stay where you are when you are in your comfort zone and not move forward as the Lord directs you. As people, we can become stagnant spiritually when we fail to respond to the Lord’s leading to move forward.
I remember volunteering to teach Sunday school years ago, not realizing I was the biggest benefactor. When the Lord calls us to step out in faith, He propels us forward. The greatest danger for older people is to become physically inactive, and the most significant threat for believers is to become spiritually stagnant.
God Called the Israelites to move Forward
The Israelites were backed up against the Red Sea with the Egyptian Army right behind them, and now the Lord was going to do something miraculous. Exodus 14:15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! 16 Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground.[1]
The Lord does not want us to spend our time looking backward or spend our lives looking through a rearview mirror. As people, we often can’t help ourselves as we can’t imagine what God has for us moving forward. The Lord wants us to get up and move forward in the plans He has for us. God has mighty things for us to do, but we need to trust Him and follow His voice. Like the Israelites, He will make way for us that is only possible by His guidance.
The Lord Calls us to move Forward
As followers of Jesus, we must move forward. Like sheep moving to a different pasture for nourishment, the life of a believer is similar. It is only in moving forward we can fulfill the plans the Lord has for us. To stay where we are is to decline, for we either move forward with the Lord or go backward. To go forward is difficult, but that is when we learn to trust God more than ourselves.
When I was a small boy, I learned to ride a bicycle in the yard so I would not get hurt if I fell. I soon realized that you would fall over if you did not keep moving forward on your bicycle. The Christian life is like riding a bike because the Lord is always helping us grow in faith and helping us move forward along our spiritual journey.
We can be like the Apostle Paul. Philippians 3:12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. [2]
To learn about a time to move forward, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/journey-freedom
[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ex 14:15–16). Tyndale House Publishers.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Php 3:12). Tyndale House Publishers.